Thanksgiving in Ft Worth

After getting off work on Friday morning, I headed over to Ft Worth for the holiday with my sister and her family, and my dad. The meal was great, and I didn't have to prepare any of it, even though I was a bit late arriving, and got teased a bit about it. On Saturday morning I decided I'd find someplace to fly Cimarron. My dad came with me, and I headed over to an industrial park I had seen while hunting to trap a hawk. As we drove into the area, I noticed a car parked on the side of the road, and in the field, another falconer. I honked, I stopped and yelled, and eventually blew my whistle, and finally caught his attention. He signaled for me to hold back, and then released his prairie falcon. Over the hill was a pond with ducks, which shortly were in the air. The falcon stooped, but didn't make contact. As I waited for him to return, another falconer drove up. What followed was a meet and greet, and showing of birds. The new fella flies a gyr/peregrine hybrid. I didn't write down any names, and my memory is poor in such areas, so I don't remember who the two gentlemen were. They gave me some directions to a bunny field, after revealing the spot I was at was bunny-poor. I left to find the place they indicated, but didn't find that either! I drove around and eventually did find a small brushy area behind a remote industrial park. Cimarron flew well, followed pretty good, and I did flush two bunnies that he made a go for, contacting with neither . . . . but confirming he will try for them if I can produce them. At the end of the hunt I pulled the lure, and again he tried to snatch and fly off . . . . which was successful because I lost my balance enough that the rope came from out from underneath my boot. I then spent about 5 minutes pulling him out of a tree. Not good! I need to create a leash for the lure to attach to myself. It was a nice weekend, and I finally got a picture of the two of us. He's such a pretty bird! When I got home I also had an e-mail from a falconer in Ft Worth who flies multiple Harris Hawks, so hopefully soon I'll get to learn more about the husbandry of this hunting hawk.

Show Me The Bunnies!

Today was a pretty good hawking day . . . . with one exception. I am still finding NO game in Texas, or at least in Abilene. I worked last night, but it was a good night, and I had all my tasks and my charting done and was able to leave at just a little after 6:30. So I got home in very good time and decided to take Cimarron out for a hunt. There is a field down the Winter's Freeway that looked very promising, and a Sunday early morning seemed to me a good time to go explore it. Cimarron did everything right. He followed me. He came to the fist when I called. He even went after "something" at least twice, but I think it was either a mouse, or possibly a small bird. There were many in the field. The field I picked, to my eye, should have been just loaded with bunnies. However, I only saw one, and it far away from me, and I don't think my bird saw it at all. At the end of the hunt, knowing his little trick, I stood on the lure, and prevented my little tiercel Harris Hawk from grabbing and flying off with his prize. He tried!! However, after a couple minutes when he realized he was not going to be able to carry, he settled down and ate the chick on the lure. In the meantime, I had slipped his jess back on, and secured him with a leash to prevent him from getting away. So, it was a nice walk on a Sunday morning. Disappointing hunting wise, but a good walk with my new bird, who is doing very well, despite my lame attempts at flushing game for him. I will have to continue to search for fields and farms where I can fly. Surely, Texas has bunnies . . . . . somewhere!

Flying Free . . . . and Lessons Learned

Yesterday, at 560/555 grams, I flew Cimarron free, and he did very good. We walked around the perimeter of the park where I've been doing training exercises. I almost walked into a thicker grassy area behind the back of the ballpark, but seeing some more of the huge spiders I've observed prevented me from doing so. It was a very windy day, and he kited around me and the area, coming back quickly to me if I called him to the fist. At the end of the walk he came to the lure and was easily picked up and put back into his giant hood. Today started out very well. He was a bit heavier than the weight yesterday, and I know better, but I'm about to go into my long work weekend, and this was the last day for several days for me to get out in the morning for a good training/hunting flight. I tried a new field that I found yesterday, which turned out to be very disappointing. I have yet to find any bunnies in Texas, other than smushed ones on the road. It had lots of grassy areas. It had lots of cactus. It had a small mostly dried up pond with lots of cattails. It had a large field full of tumbleweeds, which should have been full of bunnies . . . . but I have not flushed a single one. Cimarron followed very well, and came to me whenever I'd do a tidbit call. All went well until it was time to leave. I made my way back to my truck, and pulled the lure. He flew in, landed very nearby, then jumped in and snatched the lure, and flew off with it. PANIC! I've never had a hawk do this before. It's called 'carrying' . . . . and it can be a very bad habit, especially if he catches game in the future that is light enough for him to fly off with. He flew a short distance, and as I moved to close that distance, he picked up the lure and flew off a lot further, and over a fence, into an eclosure that had cows. OK, time to very quickly cross the fence and get him out of there. I found a place in the fenceline just high enough at the bottom to allow me to scoot underneath. I then moved towards where I'd last seen my bird. This is where the bells come in handy. His bells allerted me to his exact location. By the time I got near him, he had finished his chick off the lure, so was no longer interested in taking off with it. I also had a good sized piece of meat on my glove, to which he responded. WHEW!! I had flown him without jesses, so quickly slipped those on while he was busy with the large tidbit that he was unable to eat quickly, or fly off with. Lessons Learned today: * Fly him at the weight you've discovered his best response, and not any higher at this point. With time, as he becomes more reliable, that weight can go up. But not yet. * Use the line on the lure and restrict his ability to grab it and fly off with it. I really need to find some fields that have game in them. I've checked out a few spots near and in town, but found nothing promising yet. It now is time to start exploring the properties several persons have offered up when they found out I was a falconer. It's important that I produce game under this little hawk, and soon, so he knows what my value in the field is. On that note, I also took a very long drive yesterday to acquire three bob white quail. At the right time, during a training hunt, I'll release them, one at a time, and see if he'll make a go at them. Hopefully he will. But I'd also like to flush some bunnies under him . . . .soon!

Who Are You??

I observed this evening an interesting behavior which I have noticed in at least one of my previous hawks. After a shower, I wrap my hair up in a towel. Sometimes when not in a hurry I'll wear the towel for awhile, before combing out my hair. I was doing that this evening, when I decided to put the hawk to bed in his giant hood, here inside the house. He's been on his inside perch for a couple hours. As I approached him to untie his leash, his entire attitude was one of fear and a lack of recognition. I'm beginning to be able to approach him, to touch him, without this reaction. The only difference this evening was the towel on my head. It's interesting to see this reaction. This just re-enforces the fact that hawks rely almost entirely on their vision. They recognize specific details of my face, and changes to that face. I wonder if male falconers have noticed any kind of difference if they trained a bird sporting a beard, and then cut it off.

Indoor Perch

How do you help a "social" hawk bond to you quicker?? You bring him indoors and hang out together a lot. But you can't always hold him on the fist. So, make him a safe perch inside. With a little cement, a piece of PVC pipe and a cheap bucket from the hardware store, some scrap carpet from the carpet store, and the top of my high perch which I already had, quickly I have a nice, safe place for Cimarron to perch indoors. He's still spooky sometimes, but getting better!